Annual
performance reviews, and the salary increases that often accompany
them, typically take place either on the anniversary of the date you
were hired or on some specific date that affects all employees within
a specific group.

When
should my review take place?

Q.
My company is a bit wishy-washy when it comes to when annual reviews
are. For instance, I started in January, but took a new job within
the company in September. When should my review be?

Also,
what does it mean to "prorate" salary and, given the above situation,
is it a good or bad thing?

A.Companies
normally deliver their merit increases in two ways: focal dates
and anniversary dates. Focal dates are when employees are awarded
their increases on a common date. Anniversary increases occur on
the anniversary of the employee's hire date or the employee's last
personnel/payroll transaction.

If
you were hired in January but moved into a new position in September,
and received an adjustment to your salary, then your new anniversary
date will be in September.

Let's
assume you did not move into your new position in September, and
in January the following year you were due an increase. However,
for some reason your manager did not complete your performance evaluation
on time, so your increase was given to you a month later. If your
effective date for your increase is January 31st, but the increase
appears on your paycheck a month later, the company will "prorate"
the increase back to January 31st. In other words, the company will
pay you the difference in compensation between the time you actually
received the increase and the effective date of the increase.